Klarinet Archive - Posting 000347.txt from 1997/08

From: Gary Young <gyoung@-----.com>
Subj: RE: 2 questions...
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 02:34:01 -0400

Ken --

I agree with Cheryl about the Messaien, and want to add a few comments.

First, Messaien did not write this as a piece for clarinet alone. He wrote
it as one movement of eight for vn, vc, cl and p. It has internal
relations to the other movements, and was placed third intentionally. Why
do clarinetists think they have the right to pull this one movement out and
play it at solo recitals? I know lots of clarinetists have performed (and
some recorded) this as a solo piece, including some clarinetists I respect
greatly. But I still would like to hear a justification for the routine
practice of dismembering Messaien's piece. Messaien was very careful how
he composed, and regarded his vocation as a composer as a calling from God.
I think it's wrong to mess around with his works this way -- not because I
hold any particular religious view, but just because I respect his
artistry. (Or did Messaien approve this practice? If so, someone will
surely let me know!)

Second, this movement is not an occasion to display all the tricks in your
bag. Of course it's very difficult, but it is not just a technical
exercise, it is an integral movement that must make sense as a whole as
well as relate to the movements around it. I've only heard one performance
or recording of this movement that brought out its unity and structure (a
stunning performance by Diana Haskell in Madison). (I haven't had an
opportunity to listen to Jonathan Cohler's recording; it too might be an
exception.) Unfortunately, the presenters of that concert destroyed the
piece by interpolating between movements readings of a variety of poems
about time (Yeats, Eliot, etc.), which not only separated movements
Messaien wanted heard consecutively, but had little or nothing to do with
the musical and religious notions of time that concerned Messaien. Anyway,
if you do this movement (are you playing it or just putting it on a list
for others to play?), work on more than the technical problems -- try to
think through how Messaien put it together as a unity, and project that
structure in your playing. This is extremely difficult, or so it seems to
me.

Two cents from someone who's never performed it (just practiced it a lot,
and loves Messaien's music).

Gary Young
Madison, Wisconsin
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From: Clc313@-----.com]
Subject: Re: 2 questions...

...I have to say that if you are picking these pieces for other players to
perform, the Abyss is extremely difficult to pull off the correct way. ...